Feasibility study on a longer side-alternating vibration therapy protocol (15 min per session) in children and adolescents with mild cerebral palsy

Alena Adaikina; José G B Derraik; Janene McMillan; Patricia Colle; Paul L Hofman; Silmara Gusso

doi:10.3389/fped.2023.1231068

Feasibility study on a longer side-alternating vibration therapy protocol (15 min per session) in children and adolescents with mild cerebral palsy

Front Pediatr. 2023 Aug 15:11:1231068. doi: 10.3389/fped.2023.1231068. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Alena Adaikina¹, José G B Derraik^{1

2

3

4}, Janene McMillan¹, Patricia Colle¹, Paul L Hofman¹, Silmara Gusso^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
² Department of Paediatrics: Child and Youth Health, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
³ Environmental-Occupational Health Sciences and Non-Communicable Diseases Research Group, Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
⁴ Department of Women's And Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
⁵ Exercise Sciences Department, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

Abstract

Objective: Previous studies on side-alternating vibration therapy (sVT) have usually used a 9 min intervention protocol. We performed a feasibility study aimed at assessing the safety, acceptability, and potential effectiveness of a longer sVT protocol (15 min per session) in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP).

Methods: Fifteen participants aged 5.2-17.4 years (median = 12.4 years) with CP GMFCS level II underwent 20 weeks of sVT consisting of 15 min sessions 4 days/week. Participants were assessed at baseline and after the intervention period, including mobility (six-minute walk-test; 6MWT), body composition (whole-body dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scans), and muscle function (force plate).

Results: Adherence level to the 15 min VT protocol was 83% on average. There were no adverse events reported. After 20 weeks, there was some evidence for an increase in the walking distance covered in 6MWT (+43 m; p = 0.0018) and spine bone mineral density (+0.032 g/cm²; p = 0.012) compared to baseline.

Conclusions: The 15 min sVT protocol is feasible and well tolerated. The results also suggest potential benefits of this protocol to mobility and bone health. Randomized controlled trials are needed to reliably ascertain the potential effectiveness of a longer sVT protocol on physical function and body composition in young people with CP.

Keywords: 6 min walk test; body composition; cerebral palsy; physical function; protocol duration; side-alternating vibration therapy.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by grants from the Jubilee Crippled Children Foundation Trust, Australasian Paediatric Endocrine Group, and Maurice & Phyllis Paykel Trust.